Is this a scimitar? From where? When?

Jim McDougall · 10th April 2017, 04:23 AM

I agree this is likely a hanger from late 18th century, and probably in the spectrum of these kinds of swords used by para military and auxiliary forces in Eastern Europe modeled after the notorious 'pandours' of Austria. The note toward hunting swords is well placed, as these forces were often charged with foraging as well as skirmishing for the regular army forces, and often used hangers of 'hirschfanger' type replete with stag horn grips.

While I cannot read the script on back of blade, the motif is consistent with the oriental exotica type motif popular through Europe in these times on blades. The clipped point on this blade is actually consistent with these captioned as 'pandour point' by Gerhardt Seifert ("Schwert Degen Sabel", 1962) in a typology chart of blade point forms.

The shellguard seems much aligned with cutlass like forms known in Spanish colonial and thereby sometimes Italian contexts which counter diffused in these times as well, so basically this is a unique example of these hanger type forms which is probably from these irregular units around late 18th c.

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10th April 2017, 04:23 AM	#4
Jim McDougall Arms Historian Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Route 66 Posts: 10,196	I agree this is likely a hanger from late 18th century, and probably in the spectrum of these kinds of swords used by para military and auxiliary forces in Eastern Europe modeled after the notorious 'pandours' of Austria. The note toward hunting swords is well placed, as these forces were often charged with foraging as well as skirmishing for the regular army forces, and often used hangers of 'hirschfanger' type replete with stag horn grips. While I cannot read the script on back of blade, the motif is consistent with the oriental exotica type motif popular through Europe in these times on blades. The clipped point on this blade is actually consistent with these captioned as 'pandour point' by Gerhardt Seifert ("Schwert Degen Sabel", 1962) in a typology chart of blade point forms. The shellguard seems much aligned with cutlass like forms known in Spanish colonial and thereby sometimes Italian contexts which counter diffused in these times as well, so basically this is a unique example of these hanger type forms which is probably from these irregular units around late 18th c.